US 5G rollout plan will have devastating impact on aviation, says United Airlines
Jan 19, 2022
Washington [US], January 19 : United Airlines said that the US government's current 5G rollout plan will have a devastating impact on aviation as it can interfere with the key safety equipment that pilots rely on to take off and land in inclement weather.
"When deployed next to runways, the 5G signals could interfere with the key safety equipment that pilots rely on to take off and land in inclement weather," read United Airlines statement on 5G implementation.
"The radio altimeters on certain aircraft, which provide information to other safety systems like autopilot, heads-up displays, terrain warning and pitch control, will be compromised and will result in significant restrictions on 787s, 777s, 737s and regional aircraft in major cities like Houston, Newark, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Chicago," added the statement.
As per the Airlines, it will negatively be affecting an estimated 1.25 million United passengers, at least 15,000 flights and much-needed goods and tons of cargo travelling through more than 40 of the largest airports in the country annually.
This will result in not only hundreds of thousands of flight cancellations and disruptions for customers across the industry in 2022, but also the suspension of cargo flights into these locations, causing a negative ripple effect on an already fragile supply chain.
"We implore the Biden administration to act quickly and apply the same common-sense solutions here that have clearly worked so well around the world," said the statement.
United Airlines said that it will not "compromise on safety - full stop" and urged the federal government to follow successfully designed policies of other countries to ensure the safe deployment of 5G technology.
Earlier, Air India curtailed its operations to the US from India in view of the deployment of 5G communications by the United States.
"#FlyAI: Due to deployment of 5G communications in the US, our operations to the US from India stand curtailed/revised with change in aircraft type from January 19, 2022. Update in this regard will be informed shortly," said a tweet from Air India.
